Oral communication is a vital component of the English language arts curriculum and provides the base for growth in reading, writing, and listening abilities. Oracy consists of both verbal and nonverbal communication. It is important that teachers recognize that nonverbal communication is culture specific, and be aware of the differences that may exist across cultures when students express themselves nonverbally.
As learning and applying the skills of oral English are so closely related, the classroom should be a place where the use of spoken language is sensitively supported and where active listening is developed and valued. Talk enables students to make connections between what they know and what they are learning, and listening helps them to acquire knowledge and explore ideas.
Talk can be immediate and spontaneous, or planned and deliberate. Confidence and enthusiasm are critical factors in oral language development, and because much oral language is immediate, it involves taking risks. Student learning is most effective when there is a relationship of mutual trust, when students' oral language is accepted and a variety of communication styles are accommodated in the classroom, and when students have frequent opportunities to talk in formal and informal situations.
Functions of Talk
Talk serves two important functions in the classroom: the social and the intellectual. Students' oral language skills develop in conjunction with their expanding social awareness and their ability to reflect upon and reconstruct experience. As a social function, talk helps students adjust to ideas and ideas are reformulated to facilitate student understanding. Within this function, students share information and ideas with listeners by speaking informally and sharing through conversation. Talk is also used to form relationships through language.
Intellectual Function
Talk, as an intellectual function, shapes students' perceptions of the world and represents these perceptions as knowledge. Talking encourages students to reproduce and transform knowledge as they sift through observations, evaluate information, and compare views. Talk that transforms knowledge increases students' critical thinking abilities and retention.
Both social and intellectual talk have a place in the classroom. Instruction must ensure a full range of talk and allow for crossover between social and intellectual talk. Some classroom talk experiences are spontaneous and occur without teacher prompts or instruction, while other speaking activities require planning and structure.
Growth in oral communication revolves around increasing fluency and effectiveness. Students need to be able to speak clearly, using appropriate volume. They need to be able to give directions, follow directions, negotiate, ask questions, suggest answers, and organize and present information. They need to adapt their speaking for different audiences, purposes, formats, and topics.
As students become more proficient speakers, they develop their abilities to:
Interact Socially
Develop Self-awareness
Inform
Fluency and effectiveness in speaking develop gradually. The chart on the following page describes the developmental stages of speaking, from dependence to independence.
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Developmental Stages of Speaking: From Dependence to Independence |
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Stage 1 |
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Stage 2 |
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Stage 3 |
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Stage 4 |
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As students actively engage in the speaking process, their perceptions can change from moment to moment and from week to week. As individuals acquire new information, the language they use to make meaning changes. As they reflect upon information shared or received, they revise their understanding, further developing their schemas about language and the world.
The speaking process includes activities that occur prior to, during, and after the actual speaking event. For example, before speaking, the speaker might determine the actual content of the message, how it should be presented, and what kind of audience will be hearing the message. While speaking, the speaker must attend to such things as presenting a clear message, tone of voice, suitable vocabulary, possible responses, the environment, and nonverbal gestures. Following speaking, the speaker might accept comments, answer questions, explain concepts not understood, and/or assess the process.
Pre-speaking: Planning and Organizing
Just as pre-writing precedes drafting, pre-speaking begins before students actually speak. Students' experiences, observations, and interactions inside and outside of the classroom have an impact upon what they say and how they say it. Pre-speaking activities involve thought and reflection, and provide opportunities for students to plan and organize for speaking. Some purposes for pre-speaking are listed below.
To choose a speaking topic:
Students generate and explore ideas for speaking topics through a variety of pre-speaking activities such as the following:
To determine purpose:
Speakers talk to express ideas, emotions, and opinions, and to share information. Students must ask themselves "What is my purpose for speaking?"
To determine audience:
Speakers must ask themselves "Who is my intended audience?" Some possible audiences are:
To determine format:
Speakers must consider how their ideas and information can be presented most effectively. Some possible formats include the following:
Speaking: Going Public
Speaking actively engages students in interactions with peers and other audiences. Students who have been provided with supportive, collaborative environments and opportunities to prepare for their informal and formal speaking experiences are more likely to have the confidence needed to "go public" with their ideas and information.
In order to communicate and interact with others, students need to engage in a variety of formal and informal speaking situations, depending upon their purpose for speaking. Some purposes for speaking include the following:
Some scaffolds to support speaking include the following:
Post-speaking: A Time for Reflection and Setting Goals
Following speaking experiences, both formal and informal, it is important to have students reflect upon their performance. Their reflection, whether it is oral or written, should include the teacher, who can help them set personal goals for improving their speaking abilities. This type of reflective assessment and goal setting encourages critical thought. Some purposes for post-speaking activities are listed below.
To reflect upon performance:
Students who have opportunities to reflect upon their speaking experiences, in light of pre-determined criteria, grow in their abilities to speak effectively.
To set goals for improvement:
When students reflect upon their performance, they begin to recognize what they have done well and where they require improvement.
Some post-speaking scaffolds include:
When students have reflected upon their own speaking performance, peers may be invited to comment. Peers may comment through a structure similar to a writing conference and may give oral feedback, written feedback, or a combination of the two. Conferences may be guided by specific questions determined by the teacher or may take the form of conversation between peers.
Students' speaking skills develop best in dynamic interactive learning environments, where enough time is provided for them to share and listen to a variety of ideas. A safe, comfortable, and relaxed atmosphere is critical for the development of productive talk in the classroom for all students and is particularly important for those students who may come from backgrounds that differ from the classroom norm.
Classrooms should be places where students can ask and answer meaningful questions and in which the teacher and students are co-learners, collaborating with one another to communicate ideas and information. Different group sizes (pairs, small groups, and large groups) provide opportunities for students to practise the different thinking and oral skills unique to each configuration.
The role of the teacher is to:
The following should be observed in the classroom on a day-to-day basis:
Assessment of speaking should be continuous and take into account both process and product. A variety of assessment techniques that consider students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes should be used.
Teachers may collect anecdotal notes, use checklists, or use audio or videotapes to collect data about students' speaking abilities. This data can then be used during conferences or interviews with students about their performance and progress. Specific assessment suggestions are provided with each of the speaking and listening activities included later in this section of the curriculum guide.